Several Indiana gas stations soon may be taxed out of business unless they get a reprieve from Gov. Mitch Daniels or the General Assembly.The state’s 2,600 gas stations are the only retailers forced to prepay the state’s 7 percent sales tax. All of the others, including the Gap, hh gregg and car dealers, collect sales taxes and then remit them to the state each month.Gas station owners had to start paying in advance in 1988 after several defunct gas stations burned the state for unpaid sales tax. Now they pay ahead when they get bulk delivery of fuel according to a formula that’s recalculated every six months.The Indiana Department of Revenue just recalculated the rate that will take effect Jan. 1. Unfortunately, the formula is based on the sky-high gas prices this summer, even though retail gas prices are less than half of what they were then.So there’s the problem. Retailers will have to pay the state 19.4 cents per gallon in sales tax up front, but they’ll collect just 8.1 cents per gallon based on current prices.The state will settle up with retailers at the end of the month, but they won’t get paid back for at least 30 days. For gas station owners, whose average profit on a gallon of gas is just 3.8 cents, that’s a cash-flow nightmare.“You could see a lot of (retailers) go out of business,” said Jay Ricker, the owner of Ricker’s Convenience Stores with 53 stations, including 27 in the metro area. “The state’s basically getting an interest-free loan from them.”We’re talking big dollars. A good-sized station in the area will pump 100,000 gallons a month. If the formula doesn’t change, the station will prepay $19,400 in sales tax while it collects just $8,100 — an $11,300 float until the state pays it back.Station owners can use the tax collected on sales of nongas items, such as cigarettes and candy bars, to offset the tax at month’s end.Still, Ricker will have to borrow money to do it. Given the credit markets, that’s an unpleasant prospect for Ricker. For others, it may be impossible.“Ideally, they’d be able to pass along the cost to the customer,” said Scot Imus, executive director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. “But that’s unlikely in the highly competitive market.”The float can work the other way. Station owners probably got a small benefit during the first six months of the year as gas prices climbed.The ideal solution is to repeal the prepay requirement. The General Assembly did just that in 2000, but Gov. Frank O’Bannon vetoed the bill.During his first term, Daniels ended previous administrations’ practice of delaying state payments that forced schools and local governments into interim borrowing. The reason: The state shouldn’t force others to bear its costs.The same logic applies to gas station owners.